Target missiles Kaban and Pischal were used to simulate the
high-speed targets during the drill, he added.

S-400 Triumph is the next generation upgrade to the S-300
anti-aircraft weapon system family, which was deployed around
Moscow back in 2011. It has an operational range of up to 400
kilometers, depending on the missiles it is using, and can
destroy up to 36 targets simultaneously.

Over 800 servicemen and more than 200 military vehicles are
taking part in the war games at the Ashuluk Range, Klimov said.
The summoned troops are responsible for 13 regions in Russia’s
west, including Moscow.

Ashuluk firing range was a subject of a recent exchange between
Washington and Moscow.

Earlier this month, the drills area housed over 100 warplanes and
helicopters, which took part in the joint drill by Russia’s air force and air defense
forces. Following the drill, US Department of State spokeswoman
Jen Psaki said that Washington is “deeply concerned” by
the maneuvers of the Russian military, which are “provocative
and only serve to escalate tensions” on the border with
Ukraine.

The Russian Defense Ministry was quick to point to the large
distance between Ashuluk and the conflict zone in Ukraine, almost
1,000 kilometers away bordering Kazakhstan in Central Asia. The
ministry thus voiced “concerns over the lack of basic
geography knowledge expressed by Jen Psaki.”

In March and April, the Russian military did conduct separate
mass ground exercises, which Moscow explicitly linked to
the growing unrest in south-eastern Ukraine.

In April, the Ukrainian army began a military campaign to bring
to heel the protesters in the country’s Donetsk and Lugansk
regions, who refused to recognize the coup-imposed authorities in
Kiev and demanded federalization. Over the summer, the operation
started gradually spilling over the border, with Russian
checkpoints and refugee camps coming under fire from the
Ukrainian side.